I acquired this CD from a friend by giving him Eagles’ Hell Freezes Over CD. I was hopped up on hair metal and power ballads at the time and despite loving Hell Freezes Over, I felt this was the better trade. I would end up regretting it for some time afterwards, but this is actually a great slice of commercial 80s (yes, I know it was released in ’90) hard rock.

The band is obviously channeling Def Leppard on the album’s opener, “Rock on the Radio”. Not there’s anything wrong with it because it’s a really strong song. Of course, this album also ensured royalties for the band for life because it features one of the essential power ballads, “Love of a Lifetime”, which has shown up on many hair metal compilations since then. It even gets play at night over the sound system where I work for all of our wonderful customers to enjoy.

All in all, a good album/debut for FireHouse and I’m glad I dusted it off and gave it a spin. At times, CJ’s voice reminds me of Vince Neil. I’ve never bothered to pick any of their other albums up. Perhaps I should.

Fun Fact: FireHouse beat out Nirvana & Alice In Chains in the Favorite Heavy Metal/Hard Rock New Artist category at the 1992 American Music Awards.

Highlights: “Rock on the Radio”, “All She Wrote”, “Don’t Treat Me Bad”, “Oughta Be A Law”, “Lover’s Lane”, “Home Is Where The Heart Is”, “Love of A Lifetime”, “Helpless”

Firehouse was a band I hated right away but I grew to like. As a KISS fan, I took exception to the name “Firehouse” as a rip-off, then I read an interview with the band and they mentioned that they got the name from the song. Not sure if that is really the case but as an 18 yr old KISS diehard, I was pissed.

Funny thing is I bought the album with some birthday money (album released in August ’90 a few days after my birthday) and I liked it. ‘Don’t Treat Me Bad’ was all over the radio and MTV, it’s a pretty good Hard Rock tune. I would give the album a 7 out of 10 because it hasn’t really aged well and ‘Love Of A Lifetime’ is just horrible. I put Firehouse in with Mr. Big as bands ruined by one ballad.